Creating a 'Home Made' DVD

schnadi_uk

Hey all,

It's my Grans birthday this weekend and I've been given the task of creating a DVD for all the family to watch. Since we have family members across the globe, they will be sending video clips which i will need to incorporate into a DVD with menus etc. I believe the clips will be in mp4 format. Does anyone have any experience of something similar? Any advice on software? Since this is once only task i would prefer not to have to buy software.

Thanks,
Paul

webhamster

dvd standard is higher than the source material proberly , if they are sending you things in mp4 in emails I doubt they will be of sufficent quality.

Ask for anything done in xvid with mp3 audio and directly sent if possible through the likes of msn , and ideally in the ratio of a dvd or slightly lower.If the source is from vhs then you dont need it any higher than if i am correct 640 , 480.

Dvds arent mp4 , thats a different standard altogether , quite like xvid or divx is.The best solution is in mgpeg 2 which is what dvd is anyway.

If they are gonna send you tapes then get a dvdmaker type dongle , costs no more than 30 quid for a decent one.

Its too much to list here the ins and outs , standards etc , and it takes a long time to do it for the one off brigade....get the sources and take to someone else that knows how to do it already or a company that specialises in it ....or else you will end up the famliy guy that gets the door knocked every occasion.

schnadi_uk

Hmmmmmmm...so its safe to say this isn't gonna be straight forward!! So mp4 is not very useful for me - would it be straight forward to create a VCD which includes the clips?

webhamster

Prbably , if the source is old then its safe to say vcd is your best option , dvd wont make it any better from as rough as the source and most players do vcd.

schnadi_uk

Ok thanks...

Any advice on which software to use? I seem to remember seeing a VCD option in Nero but cant check as I'm not at home.

Paul